4 Storming the Castle

Gore walked to the men-at-arms who all wore much cheaper armor than Alfred. They were standing next to crudely made ladders from limbs and branches of trees with crudely made nails driven into them. There were 30 ladders in all.

All of the men lined up and got next to the ladder they were going to climb. Behind the men-at-arms, there were men in chainmail who had crossbows. They were standing ready to advance and provide as much cover fire as possible.

In the back, Dane yelled in a voice loud enough to shake the very skies. "TODAY WE DIE OR KILL. KILL THEM ALL OR DIE WELL. ADVANCE NOW."

The men-at-arms began to charge. They all just had sheathed short swords meant for close quarter combat. The men who carried the ladders went slower than the rest, and so the others had to slow down a little bit. 

As the advancing men got nearer to the wall, the trebuchets and mangonels stopped launching flaming balls and boulders. As such, a horn was sounded on the wall and men at the ready began to rush back on top of the walls. There were many archers and some peasants even who carried large stones and boiling pots of oil. 

By the time the ladders were at the wall, arrows had killed several dozen advancing men-at-arms and their cheap armor had not aided much against the crossbow bolts. 

Gore was a target, but whenever someone shot at him, he raised the enormous flat of his blade and covered more than half of the front of his body. 

As the men-at-arms all set down their ladders, dozens of heavy rocks were dropped down upon the soldiers and some of them were hit on the head and put out of commission for an eternity. 

As the men-at-arms and Gore began to climb the ladders, oil was poured down over them, and some of the people on the top of the wall tried to push the heavily angled ladders off, but there was already a lot of weight on them. 

Even so, two of the ladders fell over and another three ladders were doused in boiling oil with soul wrenching creams of pure agony quickly following.

When Gore climbed the first ladder, he jumped up each rung as fast as he could. He reached the very top of the ladder within twenty seconds. At the top of the ladder, there was a man with a pot of oil, and he was getting ready to dump it on Gore.

Gore brought his sword up and smashed it against the man's pot, spilling his own boiling oil on him. The man screamed and Gore jumped over the ramparts.

When Gore landed, there were eight men surrounding him on every side with their swords pointed towards his stomach. Gore bent low and then quickly swung his enormous sword downwards through a man's skull and followed down through his crotch. The man was split in half in a spray of blood. 

Gore turned his sword slightly and then whirled his sword in a circle. His enormous sword cut through them all with screams of pain and of metal as swords and flesh alike were torn through like soft clay.

There were more of them on the wall and Gore grinned as he turned to them. He dashed towards them and swung his blade like a maniac. Left and right, men died and blood sprayed. 

Within four minutes, all of the men on the wall had all been slaughtered almost exclusively by Gore. 

When Alfred, Dane, and their knights joined the men-at-arms, Alfred grabbed a man by the shoulder. "Is Gore still here?"

The man laughed and shook his head. "No, he is not. That man killed hundreds of them and then he moved down the walls and towards the gate of the castle…"

He looked horrified. "Is that man the devil…"

Alfred shook his head. "He's the man who probably saved your life."

Alfred quickly moved past the man and followed his father and the knights down the wall.

At the castle gates, there were two Aura knights. When Gore saw them, he smiled and walked towards them with his massive, but still lazy gait. His sword swung with his arm like a death god's pendulum. 

The knight's aura flared up like purple raging translucent fires. Their armor was black and they were both just about as tall as the knight that had previously stopped Alfred's warband on the road. 

The knights both dashed towards Gore. Meanwhile, Gore bunched his legs muscles low down to the ground. He brought his sword around and then dashed forward. The knights both had swung their blades, but Gore pushed his enormously long and heavy blade straight across them both. 

Both knights were knocked to the ground and Gore was even pushed back slightly. Gore was not phased though, and he swung the blade back above his head and he brought it down against the closest knight. Blood spattered and life was snuffed out.

The other knight dashed behind Gore. The knight was thrusting his blade towards Gore's back as he whirled around with his sword like an enormous scythe, ready to reap another soul.

The two blades clashed, but the knight was not pushed back. Gore attempted to push through and shove the knight to the ground, but the knight amped his Aura. 

The knight slipped his blade down under Gore's and ducked beneath the giant blade. Gore stumbled forward slightly, and the knight drove his blade towards Gore's chest. 

Gore brought his knee up and smashed it up against the knight's arm making the man drop his sword. Gore held his enormous sword with only one hand, and he brought his right hand towards the knight's neck. 

As the knight attempted to dive for his blade, Gore merely grabbed him and twisted his head. There was a snap, and the man was dead.

Gore flung the man against the stones of the castle. BANG. The knight's armor crumpled like paper against the hard granite walls.

Alfred came running up to Gore. "100 more gold coins huh?"

Gore grinned. "Let me go first into the castle as well."

Alfred grinned. "At this rate, we may even give you a share of the treasure…"

He raised his eyebrows. "Or maybe a woman."

Gore snorted. "You're funny. Let's knock this gate down."

Alfred nodded. "Well then, it's time for me to show you my power."

Alfred walked towards the gate confidently as enormous amounts of purple mana charged within his arm and sword. He brought his blade down on both enormous hinges that the gate swung out upon, and then he brought his right steeled boot up and smashed the enormous door in. 

Inside the door, there were torches and dozens of men-at-arms with pikes. Alfred took a step back. "Alright, Gore, your turn."